We didn't see Allison Mack on screen again following her decade-long stint in Smallville, and later learned she'd become embroiled in a sex cult known as NXIVM.
Arrested by the FBI in 2018, Mack pleaded guilty to charges of trafficking, sex trafficking conspiracy, and forced labour conspiracy. Accusations of money laundering and identity fraud followed, with racketeering and conspiracy charges also later added.
The actress who played Clark Kent's best friend, Chloe Sullivan, ultimately served 2 years behind bars and was released in 2023.
Mack, who has now vanished from the spotlight, was said to have been responsible for recruiting new members to the group and has previously been accused of attempting to enlist her Smallville co-stars.
In the DC series, Aaron Ashmore played Jimmy Olsen and was Chloe's love interest. Talking to fellow Smallville alum Michael Rosenbaum for his Inside of You podcast, the actor reflected on learning about what Mack had been getting up to away from the set.
"She was lovely. She was very welcoming and inviting," he explained. "And even her boyfriend Chad [Krowchuk], they would invite me out to go for hikes and stuff. She was super cool and she is a very, very good actor."
Describing Mack as a "solid" scene partner who brought "a lot of the character," Ashmore said working together felt "really easy." However, he was "shocked" to learn the news and told Rosenbaum, "Dude, my jaw was on the floor."
"I knew Alison really well for those three years. We worked together and nothing in her personality would have led me to believe that any of this was possible," he continued. "It seemed like an alternate reality, it seemed like a 'What are you talking about?' type scenario."
Rosenbaum reflected on learning about NXIVM from a documentary, acknowledging that it must have been easy for Mack to get caught up in their claims. "In the beginning, it's like, 'Oh, this is a good thing. They're helping people with their confidence and finding purpose and all these things.' And you're thinking, 'Hey, I could use some of that.'"
"But then you see where it goes and you see what the craziness - it obviously got really intense and crazy - and you're like, 'How does it become that? Why can't something just be good? Why does it always have to become something horrible?'" the Lex Luthor actor added.
Ashmore responded, "Well, unfortunately, human nature, you know? I think a lot of people are looking for something, they don't know what it is, and people will prey on that. People have traumas, they have families, all sorts of sh*t that that they're trying to look for answers for, and there's always gonna be somebody out there who's gonna take advantage of that."
Only a couple of actors from Smallville found success after the series ended, and while Mack likely wasn't destined to become a Hollywood A-Lister, she'd no doubt have continued working and would likely be making a killing on the convention circuit by now.
As for Ashmore, he's since starred in many projects, with the most noteworthy being Designated Survivor and Locke & Key.